Combination hinge and closing device for doors

ABSTRACT

A pair of hinges carried closely adjacent the sides of a chest freezer and the like, for aiding in closing the door thereon. The hinge includes a mounting bracket, a hinge means extending between the mounting bracket and the door, an elongated slot carried in the side of the door, an elongated linkage arm, a bearing means carried adjacent one end of the elongated linkage arm, and a pivot means connecting the other end of the linkage arm to the mounting bracket. A spring is coupled between the hinge means and the bearing means so that according to the location of the center line of the spring the apparatus either aids in maintaining the door closed, or for heavier doors aids in raising the door.

United States Patent Clark [54] COMBINATION HINGE AND CLOSING DEVICE FOR DOORS [72] Inventor: Robert E. Clark, West Columbia, SC.

[73] Assignee: Revco, Inc., West Columbia, SC.

[22] Filed: Oct. 12, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 79,816

[ 1 Feb.22, 1972 Primary Examiner-James T. McCall Assistant Examiner-Garry Moore Attorney-Bailey and Dority [57] ABSTRACT A pair of hinges carried closely adjacent the sides of a chest freezer and the like, for aiding in closing the door thereon. The hinge includes a mounting bracket, a hinge means extending between the mounting bracket and the door, an elongated slot carried in the side of the door, an elongated linkage arm. a bearing means carried adjacent one end of the elongated linkage arm, and a pivot means connecting the other end of the linkage arm to the mounting bracket. A spring is coupled between the hinge means and the bearing means so that according to the location of the center line of the spring the apparatus either aids in maintaining the door closed, or for heavier doors aids in raising the door.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAI'MEDFEBZZ i912 asziz INVENTOR.

ROBERT E. CLARK ATTORN Y COMBINATIONHINGE AND CLOSING DEVICE FOR DOORS This invention relates to a combination hinge and closing device for doors, and more particularly to a device which can be used either to aid in maintaining a lightweight door closed or to aid in opening a heavy massive door and, also, as a counterbalance to prevent the door from slamming to the closed position.

It has become common practice in modern appliances, such as refrigerators and chest freezers, to obtain the maximum amount of useable spacetherein as compared to the overall dimensions of the freezers. This has resulted in relatively streamlined chests and freezers. One of the problems which was necessary to overcome in order to minimize the entire size of the freezer is to utilize hinges that do not substantially increase the overall width or length of the freezer.

l-leretofore, on chest freezers which incorporate massive doors, normally they had to utilize large bulky hinges in order to aid in opening the door. In order to minimize the danger of children being trapped in freezers and the like, various regulations require that the maximum force necessary to open a freezer does not exceed a predetermined value. It is also a problem with small freezers utilizing lightweight doors of maintaining the doors in a positively closed position.

Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a combination hinge and closing device for doors which takes up a relatively small space and, thus does not substantially increase the overall dimensions of the appliance upon which it is being used.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a very reliable hinge and closing device which can be utilized on both massive doors, as well as lightweight doors for aiding in opening the door, as well as acts as a counterbalance to prevent slamming of the door.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide a hinge and closing device which can be utilized on lightweight doors for aiding in maintaining the door closed, as well as aiding in raising the door after the door has been raised a predetermined distance.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a hinge and closing device for massive doors wherein the device aids in raising the doors so that the force necessary to open the freezer does not exceed a predetermined safety level.

The construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafter described, together with other features thereof.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the following specification and by reference to the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof, wherein an example of the invention is shown and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a chest freezer having a hinge and closing device mounted thereon constructed in accordance with the present invention,

HO. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view illustrating the hinge and closing device in the position taken when the door is open,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevational view illustrating the hinge and closing device in the position taken when the door is in a closed position, with the force applied by the hinge and closing device tending to maintain the door closed,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevational view illustrating the hinge and closing device mounted on a chest having a massive door so that the tension of the spring aids in raising the door, and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

Referring in more detail tothe drawing there is illustrated a combination hinge and closing device for a door and the like, carried on a housing, such as a chest freezer which has an opening in one wall thereof that is perpendicular to a pair of spaced opposed sidewalls. The device includes a relatively flat mounting bracket A which is carried substantially flush against a corner of each of said sidewalls having an outwardly extending portion which extends beyond the wall with the opening therein. The door has a main body portion which extends over the opening in the one wall and side portions which are carried in alignment with the sidewalls of the housing closely adjacent and between the outwardly extending portions of the brackets. Hinge means B extend between each of the mounting brackets and a corner of the side portions of the door for allowing the door to be opened and closed. An elon-. gated slot is carried in the side portions of the door inwardly from the corner in which the hinge means B extends. An elongated linkage arm C has a bearing means D carried adjacent one end thereof which extends in the elongated slot. A pivot means E connects the other end of the linkage arm C to the mounting bracket A between the hinge means B and the bearing means D. A spring F is coupled between the hinge means B and the bearing means D. The spring-F is under tension when the door is closed, thus aiding in the operation of the door.

The appliance illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawing is a chest freezer which has a pair of opposed sidewalls 10 and 1 l which are joined by front and rear walls 12 and 13, respectively. A bottom is integral with all of the insulated walls, 10 through 13 for providing an insulated container having an opening in a top wall thereof. An insulated door 14 is provided for closing the opening in the top wall of the chest. The door includes a main body portion which is formed from a flat sheet metal member that is bent downwardly adjacent the edges to define side portions 15 which terminate in inwardly extending flanges 16. Insulation (not shown) is carried within the main body of the door, and a plastic panel 17 is attached by any suitable means to the flanges 16 for providing a sealed door. A handle 18 is attached to the front of the door for aiding in opening and closing the door.

The mounting bracket A may be constructed of any suitable material, such as steel, and is relatively flat so that such can be attached flush against the sidewalls l0 and 11 of the freezer by any suitable fasteners 18, such as screws or bolts. The mounting bracket is angular in shape with an enlarged portion 19 extending above the sidewalls l0 and 11. One corner 19a of the mounting bracket A is displaced slightly from the sidewall so as to allow an end of the linkage arm C to pivot therebetween.

A hinge means B in the form of a pin having an enlarged head extends through the outermost corner of the mounting bracket into the interior of the top. A bushing 20 is press-fit within a hole in the side portion 15 of the top for allowing the pin B to pivot therein. Thus, the door, when opened and closed, pivots on the pins B. An elongated relatively flat linkage arm C is pivotally connected by a pivot means E to the innermost corner of the bracket. This connection is provided through an enlarged head bolt E which is journaled on a nylon bushing 20a within the hole extending through the bracket for allowing the linkage arm to pivot thereabout. The inner end of the bolt E is fixed to the linkage arm C. An elongated slot is provided in the side portions 15 of the top. This slot is carried at a slight angle, as shown in the drawings, to the top of the lid so that the bearing means D can ride therein as the door is opened and closed. Since the slot is inclined, an overlapping outer end 25 of the linkage arm covers it at all times so that a finger or object cannot be caught therein. The length of the slot 21 limits the amount the door can be opened as a result of the bearing means D engaging the end of the slot 21. As seen in FIG. 2, the door cannot be opened further. Such can be varied by either changing the length of the arm C or the slot 21. The bearing means D includes an enlarged head pin 22a, which extends through the linkage arm C and a bushing 22 into the interior of the door. The bushing 22 is constructed of any suitable material, such as nylon, and is allowed to ride back and forth within the slot.

A spring F is connected under tension between the pin-type bearing means D and the hinge means B. An expanded lock washer is carried on both the hinge means B and the bearing means D for maintaining the end of the spring F thereon.

It is noted in FIG. 3 that the centerline of the spring which is along line 5-5, is below the pivot means E. Thus, when the door is in a closed position, such as illustrated in FIG. 3, the tension in the spring tends to maintain the door closed. However, as the door is raised and the centerline of the spring moves above the pivot means E, then the tension in the spring aids in raising the door. Normally, the hinge member illustrated in FIG. 3 is used for lightweight doors, and in particular on doors wherein it is desired that they be positively closed.

FIG. 4 illustrates the hinge being used on a more massive door. It is noted that the centerline 24 of the spring is above the pivot means E, therefore the tension in the spring tends to aid in raising the door. In both of the applications illustrated the action of the spring F acts as counterbalancing force for preventing the door from slamming if the door is released after it has been partially opened.

While in FIG. 4 it is shown that the mounting bracket was lowered relative to the elongated slot 21, so that the centerline 24 is above the pivot means E, such results could have been accomplished by merely dropping the location of the pivot means E relative to the hinge means B and bearing means D rather than lowering the position of the bracket A.

As can be seen, the entire hinge mechanism is carried closely adjacent the side of the chest with a minimum amount of moving parts.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A combination hinge and closing device for a door and the like, carried on a housing having an opening in one wall thereof perpendicular to a pair of spaced opposed sidewalls comprising: a relatively flat mounting bracket carried substantially flush against a corner of each of said sidewalls having an outwardly extending portion which extends beyond said one wall, said door having a main body portion for extending over said opening in said one wall, and side portions carried in alignment with said sidewalls of said housing closely adjacent and between said outwardly extending portion of said brackets, hinge means extending between each of said mounting brackets and a corner of said side portion of said door for allowing said door to be opened and closed, an elongated slot carried in said side portions of said door inwardly from said comer in which hinge means extends, an elongated linkage arm, a bearing means carried adjacent one end of said elongated linkage arm extending in said elongated slot, a pivot means connecting the other end of said linkage arm to said mounting bracket between said hinge means and said bearing means, a spring coupled between said hinge means and said bearing means, said spring being under tension when said door is in a closed position over said opening, whereby said spring aids in operating said door.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein said spring has a centerline extending between said hinge means and said bearing means, said pivot means being positioned above said centerline of said spring when said door is closed, whereby when said door is closed said tension in said spring aids in holding said door closed.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein said spring has a centerline extending between said hinge means and said bearing means, said pivot means being positioned below said centerline of said spring when said door is closed, whereby when said door is closed said tension in said spring applies a force tending to open said door.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein said spring means is carried within said main body portion of said door and wherein said elongated linkage arm is carried closely adjacent said side portion of said door, and said spring acting as a counterbalancing force when said door is open exerting a force tending to hold said door open.

5. The combination as set forth in claim2, wherein said bearing means rides within said elongated slot as said door is opened and closed, and said hinge means, bearing means and pivot means being positioned relative to each other so that said spring aids in opening said door after said door has been opened a predetermined distance.

6. The combination as set forth in clarm 1, wherein said elongated slots are carried at an angle in said side portions, and said one end of said linkage arms extending beyond said slots so that said slots are covered by said linkage arms at all times. 

1. A combination hinge and closing device for a door and the like, carried on a housing having an opening in one wall thereof perpendicular to a pair of spaced opposed sidewalls comprising: a relatively flat mounting bracket carried substantially flush against a corner of each of said sidewalls having an outwardly extending portion which extends beyond said one wall, said door having a main body portion for extending over said opening in said one wall, and side portions carried in alignment with said sidewalls of said housing closely adjacent and between said outwardly extending portion of said brackets, hinge means extending between each of said mounting brackets and a corner of said siDe portion of said door for allowing said door to be opened and closed, an elongated slot carried in said side portions of said door inwardly from said corner in which hinge means extends, an elongated linkage arm, a bearing means carried adjacent one end of said elongated linkage arm extending in said elongated slot, a pivot means connecting the other end of said linkage arm to said mounting bracket between said hinge means and said bearing means, a spring coupled between said hinge means and said bearing means, said spring being under tension when said door is in a closed position over said opening, whereby said spring aids in operating said door.
 2. The combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein said spring has a centerline extending between said hinge means and said bearing means, said pivot means being positioned above said centerline of said spring when said door is closed, whereby when said door is closed said tension in said spring aids in holding said door closed.
 3. The combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein said spring has a centerline extending between said hinge means and said bearing means, said pivot means being positioned below said centerline of said spring when said door is closed, whereby when said door is closed said tension in said spring applies a force tending to open said door.
 4. The combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein said spring means is carried within said main body portion of said door and wherein said elongated linkage arm is carried closely adjacent said side portion of said door, and said spring acting as a counterbalancing force when said door is open exerting a force tending to hold said door open.
 5. The combination as set forth in claim 2, wherein said bearing means rides within said elongated slot as said door is opened and closed, and said hinge means, bearing means and pivot means being positioned relative to each other so that said spring aids in opening said door after said door has been opened a predetermined distance.
 6. The combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein said elongated slots are carried at an angle in said side portions, and said one end of said linkage arms extending beyond said slots so that said slots are covered by said linkage arms at all times. 